


Brick Wall

by masterwords



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Baseball, Fluff and Humor, Hurt Aaron Hotchner, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:35:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28799193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masterwords/pseuds/masterwords
Summary: “Stop trying to be big damn heroes and just get on base!” he shouted at them, and the whole team looked up at him.  “All I’m seeing are big showoff home run swings with no results.  You win the game by getting on base!”  Aaron laughed and shook his head, Derek and a few other guys flipped him off, JJ altered her swing a little because she was a good listener. They managed to put up four runs in the inning and Dave was ready to credit it entirely to his pep talk.In the 8th inning, things were neck in neck, tempers were flaring.  A championship was on the line and one team would be subjected to a year’s worth of shit talking and humiliation if they lost, there was a lot of ego out on that field.  It was a blur, how it happened, but Dave would swear on his life that he’d seen the collision happen before it actually did, and Emily backed him up because she saw him take off running around the fence in front of the bleachers before either of them was even on the ground.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/David Rossi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	Brick Wall

**Author's Note:**

> To lighten things up a little, I present this cute fluffy goofball bit. I'm not gonna lie, the entire fic was just inspired by me imagining just how beautiful Hotch would be at First Base. Self-indulgent fluff. <3

The smell of hot dogs and popcorn and spilled beer hung in the air around the baseball diamond. Cheering families and friends packed the bleachers, fluffy marshmallow clouds dotted the sky on a perfectly chilly April afternoon. They even had an organ playing all of the old baseball classics. It was a big day, the championship was on the line, and the anti-sports members of the BAU had actually shown up to support their athletes. Emily and Penelope had margaritas in their coffee cups and Spencer had a sign that read “BAU” in big black letters and nothing else because everything that Emily and Penelope told him to write was wildly inappropriate for a work related activity. Dave walked Aaron up to the dugout and then left, promising he’d come back at half-time (which he’d been told numerous times wasn’t a thing in baseball, and he knew it because he was a very big baseball fan in fact) because he had errands to run (he didn’t, he just wasn’t interested in sitting in bleachers with other government employees and their families). He sat in his car and read a book instead, every so often pulling out his binoculars to check out the FBI’s handsome First Baseman, which was the only thing that even kept his car in the parking lot at all. No matter how much he loved a thing, it was difficult to find a reason to spend time doing work things outside of office hours. He loved his team but the rest of these people…well, he had some not very nice things to say about where they could stuff their big foam fingers. As the game progressed and the FBI started falling behind, he closed up his book and put on his Chicago Cubs ball cap, deciding that he could suck it up to add his voice to the cheers for his people. He made his way across the grass, toward the packed bleachers full of colleagues who were throwing foamy beer and peanut shells all over each other. He stayed on the grass beside the bleachers after seeing the state of the ground, no way he’d be taking his expensive shoes into that war zone. 

“Rossi!” Emily called, waving him over to a spare seat beside her. He shook his head no and approached the fence instead, peering into the dugout at his friends awaiting their turns at bat. JJ was up next, taking her practice swings, while Derek and Aaron were waiting in the wings with other members of the FBI, some he recognized, others he didn’t. The DEA, their opposing team, was two runs ahead and it was already the 5th inning. 

“Stop trying to be big damn heroes and just get on base!” he shouted at them, and the whole team looked up at him. “All I’m seeing are big showoff home run swings with no results. You win the game by getting on base!” Aaron laughed and shook his head, Derek and a few other guys flipped him off, JJ altered her swing a little because she was a good listener. They managed to put up four runs in the inning and Dave was ready to credit it entirely to his pep talk. 

In the 8th inning, things were neck in neck, tempers were flaring. A championship was on the line and one team would be subjected to a year’s worth of shit talking and humiliation if they lost, there was a lot of ego out on that field. It was a blur, how it happened, but Dave would swear on his life that he’d seen the collision happen before it actually did, and Emily backed him up because she saw him take off running around the fence in front of the bleachers before either of them was even on the ground. Derek was out in right field, Aaron at first base when the ball was popped up between them, a chance to end the inning. They both took off at full speed, eyes squinting into the sunlight, arms outstretched to catch the ball and slammed into each other so hard that Aaron collapsed immediately, folding like a house of cards, and Derek stumbled a few steps before doing the same. The ball landed two feet away from them, just outside of the foul line and bounced away. JJ was playing catcher and dropped her glove, threw her mask to the ground behind her and took off running for them. She and Dave reached them first, JJ going to Derek, Dave to Aaron, both men just lying on the ground in obvious distress. A hush fell over the crowd and then all of the coaches and players were flooding the area, crouching beside the injured players. 

“Get back!” Dave shouted, waving his arms at all of the people rushing to stand over them. Aaron was lying on the ground, grimacing and holding his left shoulder, his arm lying limp at his side. Dave leaned close to him, placed his hand on Aaron’s forehead, brushed the wispy, sweaty hair back. Just a small gesture to make sure Aaron knew he was there. The coaches were calling for the field medics who, after a short time stabilizing both men’s injuries the best they could, carted them off on stretchers (humiliating for both of them) toward the ambulance waiting nearby. It being a work activity, they had planned for these sorts of things. Once the injured parties were off of the field, people began making their way back to the stands and the dugout, leaving JJ and Dave alone. 

“We don’t have enough players…” JJ muttered and Dave inclined his head in her direction. “We’ll have to forfeit. Let’s get it over with so we can get to the hospital.” 

“Emily and I will sub in,” Dave said, adamant, unwilling to argue. “They didn’t just get carted off in an ambulance for a forfeit.” JJ grinned and hugged Dave tight around his neck, taking off running toward the coaches who were currently meeting and probably discussing the inevitable forfeit. Dave made his way toward where Emily and the gang sat looking stricken, but they’d known it wouldn’t do any good to add to the chaos in the field. 

“What happened?!” Emily shouted, and all three of them charged at Dave. He held his hands up in surrender and told them to calm down, it was okay. 

“They’re being taken to the hospital to be checked out, it’s protocol even if their injuries aren’t serious. L&I bullshit. Emily, you’re coming with me, we’re going to close out this game. Garcia? You and Reid find out where they’re taking our guys and follow them, we’ll be there as soon as this game is done.”

“Aw, Rossi, nooooooo, I hate sports!” Emily protested, sucking down the last drops of her margarita desperately. He gave her a look that simply said she had no choice and started walking toward the dugout, Emily following dutifully a few steps behind him. It didn’t take long for Garcia to figure out where her friends were taken and she and Reid hit the road, him grabbing the keys to her car quickly. She looked at him offended, she was totally planning to give him the keys anyway. 

The game didn’t take long to finish, and while Emily and Dave didn’t add much as far as talent or depth (she was more than a little buzzed, and he was out of shape and wearing loafers), they did add some level of moral support that eventually lead to the FBI edging out the DEA by one run. That one run happened to belong to JJ, splintering her bat as she sent the ball into the next field over. 

“Games might be won by getting on base, but a home run sure doesn’t hurt anything…” she muttered, prancing by Dave with a grin. The three of them hung around in the congratulatory huddle for a few moments, threw a few well placed insults in the direction of the DEA (it never got old), and then piled into Dave’s car to head for the hospital. 

By the time they arrived, Garcia and Reid were settled into seats in the lobby playing around on their phones. They were the only ones in the lobby, an odd sight for a weekend day, but a welcome one. When they saw the rest of their team, they jumped up and began spitting out all of the limited information they had - both Derek and Aaron had been taken back for x-rays, both of them were arguing that they were fine and didn’t need all the fuss, and they should know soon what’s going on. The five of them settled into seats and Dave regaled them all with the story of the final inning and JJ’s winning at bat. By the time the story had finished, the nurses had come out to take Dave back to be with Aaron, and Emily to go with Derek, much to Penelope’s chagrin. Emily asked if they could take Penelope instead, but she wasn’t his proxy and they didn’t want to take the time to go back and get his permission. Emily didn’t want to go back, she was just in one situation after another that she wanted no part of that day and she was losing her buzz quickly. 

They had Aaron sitting up on a bed with a big ice pack bandaged to his shoulder looking miserable and grouchy when Dave entered. 

“What took you so long?” Aaron asked, raising an eyebrow at Dave, whose pants were significantly dustier than they had been and his shoes were caked in dirt. 

“Oh, Emily and I just jumped in and helped win the game. We saved the day, no big deal.” Aaron laughed and then groaned, his hand coming up to rest against the ice pack gingerly as if it might help steady his shoulder, stop the pain. He felt like he had a knife jammed into his joint. 

“Thanks Dave,” he muttered. “You didn’t need to do that. Your shoes are ruined.”

“I’d rather buy new shoes than put up with those knuckleheads insulting us all year. What’s the story here?” he asked, indicating the ice pack, the shoulder, the whole thing. 

“Dislocated shoulder. The doctor asked me if I ran into a brick wall, then he saw Morgan. Just waiting to see the results of the x-rays before they put it back in place and let me go.” 

“They give you anything?” Dave asked, noting that Aaron looked like he was in quite a lot of pain as he sat there, every time he talked or moved he seemed to flinch. 

“Not yet.”

Dave came around to the side of the bed and sat down on the cold vinyl chair. Aaron had a serious look on his face, that look that said he was lost in his head trying to control his pain, and he didn’t like to chit chat when he had that look so Dave sat quietly. They waited for around ten minutes before the doctor and a nurse brushed into the room to let them know that the x-rays showed no concerning tears or other damage, so they could do a simple manipulation to put the shoulder back into place and let him go. 

“We’ll give you a shot, a pretty strong muscle relaxer, and get to it. You have the look of a guy who doesn’t want to be here.” 

“Perceptive,” Aaron grumbled, letting the nurse prep him quickly and give him the shot. 

“That’ll kick in soon, and it’ll probably last you the rest of the day. Once you’re feeling good and loopy, we’ll get started. Push the call button when you’re there.”

It didn’t take long for Dave to notice the far away look in Aaron’s eye and he pressed the call button so they could get the show on the road. With very little preparation, they unwrapped the ice from his shoulder and went about manipulating the bones back into their places. Dave watched Aaron wince, close his eyes, squeeze the edge of the bed with his good hand until it was over, then they iced him back up and sent them on their way. Aaron swayed a little on his feet and leaned heavily against Dave as they walked, Dave’s arm looped around his lower back. In the lobby, everyone was waiting for them, and Derek looked like he was having a great time playing with Garcia’s hair, high as a kite. Aaron scowled at him, and Derek just laughed. 

“They were callin’ me brick wall back there earlier…” Derek muttered, blinking slowly, grinning. Emily sat bolt upright, sure this was something she wanted in on, it sounded good. 

“I heard them say that once, didn’t realize they were talking about you. What’s the story there?”

Aaron scowled, first at Derek, and then at Dave when he opened his mouth to lay the story out. “Not a word,” he snapped, attempting to lead the way to the parking lot now to avoid further humiliation. Derek launched into the story as they all stood up and followed to their cars. 

“My house for celebratory drinks and dinner?” Rossi asked, helping Aaron into his car. Everyone agreed, even Aaron, by way of just not disagreeing. They all piled into cars, picked up supplies, and met at Dave’s house an hour later, time enough for Dave to get a few items pulled and prepped for dinner and to get Aaron settled comfortably on the couch watching a golf tournament intently on the TV. Emily plopped heavily down beside him, a glass of wine in hand, and made a sound of disgust, grabbing for the remote. 

“Ugh, what’s wrong with you?” she asked, clicking around until she found some trashy reality television, people yelling at each other on TV thrilled her. He groaned but didn’t argue or even move, the muscle relaxers were doing their job well. “So, I mean, I’ve been wondering…exactly how strong does a man have to be…” she began, and this time Aaron let out a longer groan, rolled his eyes, and hefted himself up to his feet, shuffling toward the kitchen where he knew at least one person wouldn’t mock him relentlessly. Unfortunately, Derek was there, seated at the table telling JJ and Penelope and Reid again how they’d all called him Brick Wall at the hospital and how he’d gotten three different nurses’ phone numbers. Aaron grunted, padded across the room and into Dave’s arms, leaning his forehead against his partner’s shoulder miserably.

“Make it stop,” he muttered, and Dave laughed. 

“Oh, let him have his fun,” the older man replied, rubbing Aaron’s back softly with his oven mitts on. They were in the shape of animals with open mouths, a gift from Jack for Christmas. Something Dave would never have kept in his house, not in a million years, before that kid stole his heart. Aaron groaned. “Go lay back down.” 

“No. Emily hijacked the TV and turned on one of those real housewives of hell shows.”

“Oh! Oh, Emily wait for us!” Penelope called, grabbing her wine glass and teetering through the house on her high heels, JJ following shortly after with a beer, leaving just the four men in the kitchen now.

“Hey, I’m sorry Hotch,” Derek said, resting his head on his hand now. “I shoulda looked where I was running, that was your catch.” The kitchen started smelling incredible as Rossi whipped up his pasta carbonara, an easy fast meal for him to make that he knew everyone loved. He could make it in his sleep, and it was usually what he made for Aaron when the other man needed some comfort food. 

Aaron sat down at the table and sunk into his chair, struggling to keep his head upright. They weren’t kidding about him being knocked out the rest of the day. “S'ok. I should have let you go for it. Did I even hurt you at all?” 

“Man, my ribs are all messed up. You ran into me hard enough to dislocate your damn shoulder…come on, don’t pretend you don’t know how hard you hit.” Aaron smiled a little at that, and both men chuckled then groaned – laughing wasn’t pleasant for either of them at the moment. 

Reid was just sitting and staring, utterly confused by what he was witnessing and completely out of place in every conversation in the entire house. He stood up and offered to help Dave with dinner, which Dave allowed reluctantly. They got dinner on the table quickly, and everyone enjoyed themselves (except Aaron who was struggling just to stay upright after the heavy dose of meds they’d pumped him full of) and helped clean up afterward. It was rare that they got to spend this kind of time together without being interrupted, but they figured word had gotten around about the hit their team took on the field today so even if a case did pop up, it would go to another team. 

Once dinner was cleaned up, they all made their way into the den for a movie, piling onto Dave’s furniture with drinks and blankets, arguing over what movie to watch. Morgan asked just not to have it be a comedy, to which Emily replied that she would only watch a comedy. By the time the arguing ceased, JJ had decided to put in Jaws, eliciting groans from everyone in the room except Morgan who was pumped. Garcia, Morgan, JJ and Reid all piled onto one couch, Morgan leaning heavily against Garcia, all of them sharing a blanket. Dave, Aaron and Emily took the other couch, Aaron being too tired and too heavily medicated to sit upright, had laid down with his head in Dave’s lap, his feet kicked up over the arm of the couch. He was tucked in under his heated blanket that he kept folded in a basket behind the couch, and Dave held his ice pack in place every time it threatened to slide away. He was asleep before the movie even started. Not a single person was surprised.


End file.
